Thursday, October 26, 2006

A coconut flour experiment: Coconut Blueberry Muffins

This was my first time using coconut flour, and the result was a rich, sweet muffin that is completely grain-free as well as dairy-free and, obviously, gluten-free. They are quick to make and stay remarkably moist even when stored for a few days. Coconut flour absorbs a huge amount of liquid, so very little flour is necessary. The eggs act as a binder and leavening agent and the muffins need very little honey in order to be quite sweet. I used the coconut flour from Bob's Red Mill, which I found at Piedmont Grocery. These are definitely muffins for coconut lovers only!

29 comments:

Oh! This looks like something I could make for Leah: I would try three-four tbs coco milk, and sans the 3 tbs of honey...and for unsweetened things, my catch all is, after baking, to cut in half and place it in a pan with butter and brown it. So delicious!

M - Yes! I was thinking of Leah when I made them because they were too sweet for me, which means that with just coconut flour and coconut milk they'd probably be perfect. Everything is better when browned with butter, no?

Oh, it didn't even occur to me that these might be kosher l'pesach! That's great. I can't imagine being able to grind your own, though, unless you have a flour mill, because the flour is as fine as wheat flour - Which is way finer than a coffee grinder could do. But if you figure out a way to do it, let me know!

these look great! Ok.. have you ever tried the boxed egg substitue for your recipes? I am not suppose to eat "real" eggs --so trying to figure out how the box egg thing works. I have the box... just scared to try them. thanks. sally

Anonymous: Do you mean egg replacer? Ener-G makes a good one. Yes, I've used them in place of eggs (and in addition to eggs!) in various recipes. I used to be vegan, ages ago, long before I went gluten-free - So I'm well-acquainted with egg replacer. It works in some recipes and not others - This particular recipe relies so much on eggs for binding and leavening, that I don't think egg replacer would work. However, your standard gluten-free muffin recipe (I have other recipes on this blog) will be fine with egg replacer in it, as will most quickbreads.

chocolate lady: making your own coconut flour from shredded coconut is a novel idea and we've considered it, but it would not work for baking purposes. Coconut flour is dehydrated and partially de-fatted prior to being milled. Shredded coconut is ~ 70% fat and coconut flour is ~ 8% fat. There is also half the amount of fiber (per equal serving) in coconut flakes compared to coconut flour. Fat and fiber content are very important in baking, so while it may be possible to change other ingredients to accommodate for homemade coconut flour (less liquid), the store-bought coconut flour cannot be easily replaced with ground shredded coconut.

I've never had either of those issues, though I guess I'm used to eating low-carb muffins so the egg taste is to be expected. This recipe is based on recipes from the coconut flour cookbook - Most coconut flour recipes use a small amount of flour for a large amount of eggs, similar to how many low-carb muffins are made. Eggs are what holds it together and leavens it. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy them. They have gotten only good reviews on RecipeZaar (where I also posted them): http://www.recipezaar.com/192406

I have to say, I am also sensitive to things being overly eggy - I've gotten used to it with lower-carb baking, but sometimes the taste can really turn me off.

Carol: I am sad to say, that while I've never tried these with egg replacer, I am almost positive they will NOT work without eggs. Here's why: Coconut flour has not only no gluten, but no other properties that make it very sticky. We do not add xanthan gum, so there is no gluten replacer. Eggs are the majority of the bulk of this recipe, not flour or any other ingredient. The reason is that eggs in this case work as both the gluten and the leavening agent. This recipe is extremely eggy. If you're looking for a recipe to try to make egg-free I would stick to a normal gluten-free muffin recipe (one that uses grain flours, xanthan gum, etc) - I've had luck with those before. But coconut flour is it's own beast and most recipes I've seen that feature it (unless they put just a tablespoon or so in a grain-based recipe) are heavy-duty egg-based and result in a light, somewhat eggy consistency that a replacer won't give. Of course if you feel like experimenting - Please do. Let us know how it turns out. You could possibly add some rice flour or almond meal to this recipe, and some xanthan gum, to give it non-egg bulk. Good luck!

Wow MP/Anonymous - I never would have imagined. I haven't experienced egg replacer as giving such an eggy texture. I will have to give it a shot - And if it works out maybe I will have to post a vegan version of this recipe!

that looks absolutely delicious - i'm going to have to try that recipe. coconut flour can be hard to find so if you can't find it locally, know that you can get it online - i found mine at shopOrganic - they have a lot of other gluten free foods and that egg replacer.

Elena - I've never had that problem with coconut flour. Did you remember baking powder? Did you mix everything thoroughly? Are you using finely ground coconut flour, such as Bob's Red Mill brand? Otherwise I have no idea - It could be the elevation that you're at, versus mine.

I have been experimenting with egg free coconut flour recipes. I have had some luck with using 1/4 cup of baked butternut/acorn squash per egg plus a gelatin mixture. The gelatin mixture (one of these should replace 1 egg) is 3 TBLS of hot water to 1tsp of gelatin. Place the gelatin mixture in the freezer for a bit and then add to the wet ingredients. They are not perfect yet but still working on it!

I just went in and made these - delicious! Mine were still a little wet looking after 18 minutes, so I turned off the oven and let them sit in there another 10 minutes - perfect! (I think I added too many blueberries so they took a little longer to bake.) Thanks for the terrific recipe! It's an A+

In case anyone is wondering about the actual nutritional content of these decidedly wonderful Primaltreats, I have added the ingredients together on livestrong.com and here's what I got:1 ENTIRE BATCH (With Honey)Cals: 862Fat: 52.5gChol: 645mgSodium: 898mgCarbs: 90.5gFiber: 14.7gProt: 22.75gSugar: 55.3g